Psycho Rangers: In Space
by Maiyrhia
Summary: In Space Psycho Rangers saga, from the point of view of Psycho Yellow. Created solely to hate and destroy the Yellow Ranger, she wants nothing more than to complete that goal - but why won't Astronema let her?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes**

Just an idea I had while watching In Space; Psycho Yellow seemed to be the one with the most common sense of the bunch (not that that's saying much), and I got to wondering what her thought process was... which soon led to this fanfiction. Should be about 7-8 chapters in total. Standard I-don't-own-it disclaimers apply.

 **Chapter 1**

The creature's first conscious thought was hatred. It built over the next few seconds, a whirling vortex that consumed her entire mind, until she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw gave her hatred focus, and she knew with her entire _being_ that she was destined only to destroy the foul thing she saw on the monitor in front of her.

She stepped forward as her mind cleared a little - just a little, the pure hatred not fading even the smallest degree - and came face to face with four others like herself, and a woman in black and name _Astronema_ came into her mind, the identity of her mistress programmed into her.

Astronema fixed them with a cold look. "You five are my new Psycho Rangers. I trust you all know your purpose?"

It was Psycho Red who spoke first, stepping forwards with a determined nod. "We'll destroy the Power Rangers. Just show us where they are!"

Astronema barely reacted to his bluntness. "Good," she replied, her voice cold. "You'll get your chance soon. And _don't_ fail me." She didn't give them time to reply, turning instead and stalking out of the room.

The new Yellow Psycho Ranger exchanged a look with the other four for a long moment, sizing up her - competition? allies? She wasn't entirely sure which. Well, as long as they helped her destroy the Power Rangers, it scarcely mattered. "I hope she lets us go soon."

Psycho Blue nodded eagerly. "I can't wait! That Blue Ranger is mine!"

Psycho Yellow nodded, her hope confirmed. If the others were focussed on the different Rangers, that left Yellow for her.

* * *

Tearing apart the city was one thing, but doing it disguised as the Power Rangers was just plain _funny_ , watching trust turn to fear in people's eyes as their heroes turned on them. As they'd expected, it wasn't long before their targets showed themselves.

They turned to face their counterparts, the two teams sizing each other up for a moment before Psycho Red spoke first "Well well well, what do we have here?"

Even with their expressions hidden by their helmets, the Rangers' confusion was palpable. They looked at each other, then at the Psychos. "I can't believe it," the Yellow Ranger said in clear disbelief.

"They look just like..." Black trailed off, his sentence lost as he stared at Psycho Black.

Red shook his head. "They can't be."

Psycho Blue spoke - but not to correct them as she'd expected. "Ah, but we are Rangers!"

She was surprised they weren't letting their actual identities be known yet, but she decided to play along for now. "And we're here for one reason, and one reason only."

Psycho Red finished her sentence. "To destroy you."

The conversation was over before the Power Rangers could reply, and the Psychos charged in to attack. She ducked a clumsy punch, kicking Yellow backwards with a laugh as the Pink Ranger stumbled past, choking from a kick in the throat. She chased after the Yellow Ranger, blocking kicks and punches with ease. Her opponent moved so _slowly_ the fight was almost boring. As Red hit the wall hard near her, she flipped over Yellow, easily avoiding the shots she tried to fire. Only one even grazed her, and it barely stung.

She kicked Yellow backwards, but before she could follow up the Black Ranger hit the floor hard nearby, and the others ran to his side. As the Rangers tried to regroup, Psycho Red spoke again. "You were right. We're not Power Rangers."

Clutching an injured arm, the Red Ranger tried to stand up straight. "Who are you then?"

Psycho Red laughed as he replied. "You'll find out soon enough." Apparently it was time to put their opponents out of their misery - in more ways than one - and they all laughed as they transformed back into their Psycho Ranger forms. "We're the Psycho Rangers."

"We're faster than you," Psycho Black said as they advanced.

"Smarter than you," Psycho Blue added, to the clear offense of his counterpart.

As Psycho Yellow looked at the gasping Yellow Ranger, her own response seemed obvious. "Stronger than you."

The only one left to speak, Psycho Pink rubbed in their point with, "But we're evil."

Psycho Red had clearly had enough talking. They were _all_ getting impatient. "Now we'll show you what a Psycho Ranger can do!"

The Red Ranger struck a pose that was probably supposed to look impressive. "Bring it on!"

Time to stop playing around, then. A few violent seconds was all it took for her to knock Yellow to her knees. As she started to siphon her mind, her very thoughts and feelings, she could see the other Psychos around her, doing the same to their helpless counterparts. Hatred turned to contempt as she sifted through the Yellow Ranger's memories. There were a _lot_ of pathetic fantasies about the Red Ranger in there, and Psycho Yellow shoved past both those and her victim's terror to something more relevant. As she reached the memories of training, strategies and fighting techniques, it all seemed too easy - until the far wall exploded inwards.

The Psychos teleported away, back to the Dark Fortress, as a motorcycle bearing a silver-clad Ranger rode in through the new hole in the wall. They had what they'd come for anyway - no sense risking being taken by surprise before they could regroup.

* * *

They were met by Astronema as they appeared in the main control room. She was calm, confident as she walked over to them. "So, the Power Rangers have met my Psycho Rangers. Did you get their energies?"

Psycho Red answered, speaking for all of them. "Yes. Each of us has tapped in on a Power Ranger."

"Good. Soon you'll know them inside and out. You'll know their thoughts, predict their next move." She stopped by Psycho Red, turning back to face them. "Find them! And don't come back until they're destroyed."

Already experienced enough to work out that when Astronema raised her voice it was _not_ wise to stay in the room, the five quickly left, going to find somewhere else to plan. Psycho Red found a monitor, pulling up surveillance footage of the area where they had fought the Rangers minutes ago. "They're gone!"

Psycho Blue pushed him out of the way to look at the monitor himself. "Where are they?" he demanded, watching the empty warehouse.

"We won't find them this way." Psycho Pink shook her head. "We'll have to look."

"Hmm." Psycho Red nodded his agreement. "Wait, we all know the sound of their communicators. We go to the city, and wait. They'll show up eventually."

Psycho Yellow sighed, but could think of no better plan. "Let's hope they don't take too long."

* * *

They teleported down, split up to cover different areas of the city. Psycho Yellow found herself on a rooftop with Psycho Pink, a convenient vantage point to listen to the city below. After only a few moments, she heard a familiar bleep, a sound picked up during her draining of the Yellow Ranger's energies. "I've got it!"

Psycho Pink ran over. "Then let's go."

Psycho Yellow needed no convincing, and they jumped together after the sound.

As they landed on the street, the sound came again, and Psycho Pink pointed to a car speeding away. "They're in that car!"

"I'll stop it." She was already reaching for her weapon, shooting the car's tyres out. They ran after the car as it skidded to a halt, Psycho Pink pulling one of the doors off. "I've got you, Ranger!" She reached into the car triumphantly - and stopped as she saw the terrified old couple within. "That's not the Pink Ranger..."

Psycho Pink dropped the car door. "I thought you heard her."

"So did I." Confused, Psycho Yellow shook her head. "Come on." They ran together, patrolling the streets to listen for any sign of the Ranger they had heard.

It was not long before their own communicators came to life, and they heard Psycho Red's voice come through. "Psycho Yellow, Psycho Pink, we've got one Ranger prisoner."

"One isn't enough," Psycho Pink replied. "We'll keep looking."

"No!" Psycho Red sounded angry, probably at being argued with. "We lay in wait. They'll come to rescue him before long."

Psycho Yellow searched the emotions and memories she had siphoned from her counterpart. "He's right. They'll come running to rescue their _friend_."

Psycho Pink nodded reluctantly. "I _hate_ waiting."

"So do I, but they'll come as soon as they can. And you don't know where to look, so come on!" Without waiting, Psycho Yellow focussed her powers, teleporting to an abandoned library with the other Psycho Rangers. She took one glance at the unconscious captive, being tied to a chair by Psycho Blue. "Which one's this?"

Psycho Blue pulled the last knot savagely tight as Psycho Pink teleported in beside them. "This one's Silver. He won't be interfering this time round."

She laughed. "Good. Astronema will be pleased once we've destroyed all six."

* * *

Minutes passed and the Psychos, never imbued with much patience at the best of times, were growing frustrated. "Where are they?" spat Psycho Blue.

"They'll be here." Psycho Black indicated the still-unconscious captive. "They'll be looking for that one."

"They're slow as well as stupid." Psycho Blue paced angrily. "He isn't well-hidden."

Ignoring the others, Psycho Red cocked his head as he heard a familiar sound from across the city. "Psychos, I hear them! I knew they'd make a mistake, let's move!" He teleported, the other Psychos following his lead as he looked at a busy street. "I think... yes!" He pointed at one of the cars. "This time we've got them!"

They teleported down, shooting out the car's wheels, and it swerved wildly, out of control. Psycho Red walked after it as it crashed into a wall, and pulled the back open to reveal - nothing. The car was empty, save for a remote control and a machine making a repeated beeping sound. "What's this...?" Psycho Red's confusion turned to anger as he took in the sight, and he rendered the machine into scrap metal with a punch. "It's a decoy!"

Standing some distance away, Psycho Pink held up a hand to stop the others. "Wait, I hear them. We've got to get moving now!"

By the time they teleported back the Rangers, morphed, were sprinting towards the old library. "It's them!" Red shouted, drawing his weapon.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Psycho Red laughed.

Psycho Blue's eyes were fixed on his counterpart. "Did you think you could fool us with that old trick? You're pathetic."

"That's enough!" Red actually seemed to think he had a chance. "We're coming through." With that, the Rangers charged - apparently they were unable to learn a lesson. The fight was a lot more brutal than the first time they had met, and a lot more brief. They were done playing around with the Rangers, and all five hit the ground hard under just a few hits from the Psychos.

Psycho Red spoke as they all took just a moment to enjoy the sight of the Power Rangers stumbling, barely managing to rise to their feet. "You haven't got a chance against us."

"We'll see about that!" Well, nobody could fault the Red Ranger for his tenacity, if nothing else. Their desperate charge was met with a blast of energy bolts, and they were thrown back to the ground again.

The Power Rangers forced themselves to their feet, again, and the Psychos channelled their power into energy blasts. Psycho Yellow could _feel_ her opponent weakening, enjoying the cries of pain as they became more and more pathetic - until she felt the grip of a teleporter take hold of her.

"What's happening?" cried Psycho Red, but it was too late to wonder, as the familiar sight of the Dark Fortress swirled into being around them.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Where's X-Men: New Start? On my hard drive. At least, the notes and rough draft from far-too-long-ago are. I'm in the process of rewatching the entire original film trilogy and all of X-Men Evolution to get the characters back in my head, then I'll finish off the next chapters of that fic. I aim to get it written and finished sooner, not later. I promised I'd finish it, and I meant that promise.

Speaking of, I also promise to finish THIS fic, whatever life throws at me. I don't have the best track record for swift, regular updates, but it will get written.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Psycho Yellow looked at the others, seeing her own rage mirrored four times over. "Why are we back here?"

"Astronema," Psycho Blue replied, though they all knew the answer.

Psycho Yellow shook her head, confused. "Why? She told us to destroy them! Why would she bring us back before we finished the job?"

Psycho Red was already heading for the door as he answered. "Let's find out." He led the way to the main control room, the others hot on his heels. He pushed his way into the room angrily. "We had them!"

"Why did you stop us?" Psycho Yellow asked, desperately wanting to know _why_ she hadn't been allowed to finish off the Yellow Ranger.

Astronema turned to face them, barely showing more than mild irritation. "You'll finish them when I decide."

Psycho Blue shoved the others aside to speak. "Oh yeah? And when will that be?"

Astronema held up a hand, and a blast of lightning shot out into the three Psychos who had dared speak. Even lasting barely a second, it drove them screaming to the floor, before she spoke again. Her voice was far, far too calm. "Remember your place, Psychos. I'll tell you as much as I decide to tell you. Now leave me!"

As Psycho Yellow forced herself to her feet, she saw Psycho Red glaring at Astronema. "As you wish," he said. "For now."

 _Idiot_ , she thought as she staggered out. Hadn't they just proven that trying to argue with Astronema was a bad idea? And letting her think they were planning something was beyond stupid. Psycho Yellow just left the room before Psycho Red could get her hurt again. She still wondered why Astronema had stopped them - what was her mistress's real plan? She had ordered them to destroy the Power Rangers, yet stopped them as soon as they got close - but why?

* * *

Even with their impatience, it took two days before any of them dared approach Astronema again. When they did, it was as a group. As the five walked into the main control room, they saw a monster on the screen, fighting against the Power Rangers - against _their targets_. Astronema was watching the fight with her usual disturbing calm. "Excellent," she said to Ecliptor. "The information Datascammer has collected will be useful."

Psycho Red stepped forward. "Let me handle them, Astronema. I can take them all without Datascammer's database."

Before Astronema could reply, Psycho Black shoved him back. "No, Astronema, let me do it!"

As Psycho Red's anger built visibly, several nearby Quantron soldiers took a noticeable step away from the Psycho Rangers. "No, I'm the strongest Psycho Ranger!"

Apparently unbothered, Astronema walked past them towards the door. "You underestimate their strength," she said, her voice as calm as ever.

Psycho Yellow took a step after her, her impatience boiling over any memory of what had happened last time she had spoken up. "No, you underestimate _our_ strength."

Astronema stopped for just a moment, casting a look so cold over her shoulder that it sent a shiver down Psycho Yellow's spine, before stalking out of the room.

* * *

The next day, Psycho Yellow paced in frustration. It had been far too long since Astronema had let them near the Power Rangers. Days now - too long. The closest they had come was when Psychos Red and Black had teleported down to attack the Rangers while Astronema was distracted by the Rangers' fight with Datascammer. The others Psychos had tried _very_ hard to ignore the sounds of their punishment for acting out of line.

She stopped as she remembered Astronema's warning against overestimating the Power Rangers. It had seemed like an easy defeat, but perhaps there was more to the six than they expected? An idea popped into her mind, an idea to separate the Rangers, pick them off one at a time without the Silver Ranger being able to intervene. Maybe Astronema needed a good plan? Keen to finally be allowed to destroy the Yellow Ranger, she headed to ask her mistress.

"Astronema!" she called, interrupting a conversation with Ecliptor as she entered the main control room.

Astronema spun, clearly startled. "What do you want?"

Not bothering to hide her impatience, she answered quickly. "I have a plan to catch the Rangers and put them out of business for ever."

She didn't get the response she'd been expecting, as Astronema answered coolly. "What you fail to realise is I already have a plan."

Psycho Yellow hesitated, confused. Surely her mistress would want to at least hear her idea? "Yes, but I think that-"

"Don't think!" Astronema's normally calm voice was raised - a dangerous sign indeed - and she fixed the Psycho Ranger with a glare. "Get out," she said, turning her back to end the conversation there.

As Psycho Yellow tried to understand what had just happened, Ecliptor raised his sword. "You heard her. Get going, now."

She hesitated barely a moment longer before turning and leaving, unwilling to risk staying where she clearly was unwanted. She stopped just around the corner, confused by their rejection. She hadn't thought her mistress so arrogant she wouldn't even _listen_ to other people's ideas.

Psycho Yellow hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but her unnatural hearing picked up a quiet comment by Astronema, as she resumed her conversation with Ecliptor. "We'll destroy the Rangers, but not until we've used up every last drop of Dark Specter's power."

Stunned, Psycho Yellow left quickly, before anyone could catch her listening. The thought of having to wait to destroy the Yellow Ranger was too much to bear, no matter Astronema's plans for her dark master. No, she thought, quickly changing her plan. She wouldn't wait. She just needed someone to work with...

* * *

"The Rangers don't stand a chance against my perfect aim!" Psycho Pink was talking to herself, clearly impatient to get a chance to prove it.

"Unfortunately, Astronema won't let you use it."

Psycho Pink spun around in surprise. "She has a plan!"

Psycho Yellow dismissed the idea with a wave of her hand as she walked into the room. "She has a plan all right, but what makes you think her plan includes you?"

"What do you mean?" Psycho Pink sounded confused now. "Do you know something you're not saying?"

Keeping the truth to herself, Psycho Yellow folded her arms. "Maybe."

"Then speak!"

She definitely had her full attention now. "Don't you see? Astronema wants all the glory for herself. But I know how we can get the Rangers' full powers for _us_ instead."

Psycho Pink sounded more confused than convinced. "What are you talking about? If Astronema gets a hint of this, she'll-"

"She won't," Psycho Yellow interrupted.

"She'd better not."

Ignoring that comment entirely, Psycho Yellow pressed on while she had her attention. "Listen, the only way we'll have enough power to defeat them is to attack them together. We can steal all their powers before Astronema knows what hit her."

Psycho Pink thought for a moment. "I love it. Let's get to it!"

Success. Psycho Yellow outlined her plan - while privately forming her own version of the plan. If she played this right, she could take the power for herself, without Psycho Pink being able to stop her...

* * *

The first part of the plan went perfectly. Psycho Pink proved the perfect bait, with the Rangers showing up as predictably as ever and no sign of Astronema suspecting the two Psychos' scheming. She watched the fight from a safe distance, out of direct sight. It was almost a fair fight - almost, but not quite, as one by one Psycho Pink sent the Power Rangers tumbling to the ground. She laughed to herself. "This is working perfectly. She wears them down, and I have easy pickings."

Psycho Yellow watched the fight, waiting for her chance. Kidnapping the Pink Ranger would have been the easiest, but she wanted the Yellow. She let the fight continue for a minute - no harm in letting Psycho Pink wear herself out a little - before deciding to act. She thought for a moment, then transformed into the image of an elderly human. If there was one thing she could count on the Rangers for, it was soft-heartedness. "What's happening?" she called out, in her best confused voice, and tried to fall convincingly as Psycho Pink aimed a blast near her.

Perfectly, the Yellow Ranger was the one who ran over to protect her. "It's all right ma'am," she said, kneeling beside her. "Are you okay?"

Trying not to laugh at how _easy_ this was, she teleported a few steps away, conjuring a set of shackles onto the Yellow Ranger's wrists as she stared in confusion.

"What are you doing?! I'm here to help you!" Clearly, she was not the smartest if she was still confused.

Psycho Yellow returned to her normal form. "You're the one who needs the help," she retorted, unable to help but reply to the Ranger's laughable argument. She teleported behind her, grabbing her captive by the neck.

"Wait!" Psycho Pink called out.

"Why? I have us a prisoner." She knew exactly what the problem was - all according to her plan.

"But you promised it would be Pink!"

"I lied," she replied with a laugh, teleporting away with her struggling captive. That ought to keep Psycho Pink busy for a while - no doubt her obsession with the Pink Ranger would keep her fighting the others to try to get at her. In the meantime, that left her alone with Yellow, safely hidden out of sight in an abandoned, crumbling building nearby...


	3. Chapter 3

_Guest - thanks for the poke. I'd got busy; one update, as requested._

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

She'd had her fun with the helpless Yellow Ranger, and it had been fun. But it was time now to get down to business. Psycho Pink would be kept busy fighting the other Rangers, trying to get at Pink, but she'd come back eventually. "All right. It's time I take the rest of your powers."

"Not if I can help it!" The Yellow Ranger pushed herself to her feet, aiming an easily-dodged kick in a last, desperate effort.

A single punch sent her sprawling again. "Don't waste my time. With those shackles on, you haven't got a chance against me." She watched as the Ranger looked at the shackles, clearly realising her point, before grabbing her by the head to finish what she'd started. "Time to finish the brain drain." She couldn't help but laugh at the Ranger's pathetic struggling and pleading as she started to siphon off the last of her energy.

The blast caught her in the back, completely unaware. "Hold it right there!"

She dropped the Ranger and spun to face Psycho Pink. "What are you doing?"

"Me?" Psycho Pink was clearly furious. "The question is, what are _you_ doing? I thought the plan was that we would steal her powers, not just you!"

"Certainly you don't think I'd double-cross you?" Perhaps she could still bluff her way out of this, she thought.

She was wrong. "You'd double-cross your own mother. That is, if you had one."

Psycho Yellow gave her a shove to make her point. "Hey, no need to get personal. Just because I have the brains to pull this off."

"Why, you...!" Psycho Pink was furious, but before they could exchange more than a few blows she grabbed the captive Ranger. "Hold it right there!" she repeated. "Unless you want me to destroy her right now, let's renegotiate this deal!"

Psycho Yellow decided to call her bluff. "No way."

"Then I'm taking her to Astronema!"

"I don't think so!" She threw a blast at Psycho Pink - the Yellow Ranger was still strong enough to survive it.

Psycho Pink went flying, thankfully in a different direction than the Ranger, as the attack blew a visible crack in her helmet. "My energy shield's been compromised!"

The Yellow Ranger, who both of them had disregarded as being too weak to move, pushed herself to her feet as they fought, jumping out of a large crack in the wall to her freedom.

Their fight forgotten, Psycho Pink ran to the crack herself. "We've got to catch her! Come on!"

As Psycho Pink chased the Yellow Ranger, shouting threats, Psycho Yellow stopped and thought. The Yellow Ranger wouldn't be able to get far. Not in her weakened state, not with those shackles. In fact, with Psycho Pink making her presence loudly known, she was sure she could predict where her target would scurry off to next. She teleported into a nearby warehouse, and waited - for just a few seconds, as the Yellow Ranger stumbled into view ahead. "Quit your running. It'll all be over soon."

"Oh no!" The Ranger backed off a few steps, struggling even to stay on her feet.

Psycho Yellow teleported down beside her, reaching to drain her powers once again. "This will go easy on you if you stop fighting me."

She was interrupted - _again_ \- by an attack from Psycho Pink, angrier than ever. "You just don't seem to understand, do you?"

"You're becoming much more trouble than you're worth!" Psycho Yellow snapped, never one to filter her thoughts.

"Then let's end this!"

This fight was a lot more even; the two Psychos were evenly matched, despite the injury Psycho Pink had taken minutes before. They fought, neither able to gain the upper hand for more than a moment, both delivering savage blows to the other for several violent seconds.

The Yellow Ranger had taken advantage of their distraction, staggering towards some barrels. She tried to vault over them but, in her current state, was only able to fall behind them.

Psycho Pink looked up at the sound. "She's getting away!"

The Yellow Ranger pushed herself to her feet and faced them, half-hidden behind the barrels. "Listen up, you Psychos!" she shouted. "I'll never give in to you, never!"

"Then you'll be destroyed!"

"No, she's mine!" Before she could stop Psycho Pink, the other had released an energy blast - straight into the explosive barrels the Yellow Ranger had been standing behind. The fireball threw Psycho Yellow clear out of the warehouse and to the ground.

She forced herself to her feet after a few moments, still dazed. There was no way Astronema _hadn't_ noticed the explosion, and she seriously doubted the Yellow could have survived that blast. While she wanted to find the Ranger's body, and _really_ wanted to take her revenge on Psycho Pink, she definitely did not want to be caught down here by Astronema. "Goodbye, Yellow Ranger," she said aloud, reluctantly teleporting back to the Dark Fortress.

* * *

Safe, and hopefully not suspected by Astronema, Psycho Yellow pulled up surveillance footage of the old warehouse on a monitor. She stared in shock as she saw Psycho Pink facing all five Rangers - including the Yellow. She almost teleported back down to finish her off, but hesitated. There was no way Psycho Pink, injured as she was from their fight, could hope to defeat the Rangers. And she really _was_ more trouble than she was worth. Good riddance, she thought as she settled back to watch the fight. She could dispose of the Yellow Ranger another day.

As it turned out, the Yellow Ranger was a _lot_ tougher than she'd given her credit for, and the fight barely lasted a few seconds before she delivered a final blow to Psycho Pink's cracked helmet. As the Power Rangers started to celebrate, Psycho Pink grew into her true, huge monster form, and before long the Rangers' Mega Voyager had arrived on the scene. She watched the fight against the Rangers' giant robot with interest. For a moment it looked as though Psycho Pink might prevail, but there was Silver in his own Mega Winger, and Psycho Pink lasted only seconds under their combined volley.

* * *

Astronema's voice was calm, almost uncaring, as she addressed the four remaining Psycho Rangers. "Psycho Pink had her own plan, and you can see how much good that did her."

Psycho Yellow stayed silent, in no hurry to correct her. If the Princess of Evil had failed to see her part in the plan, then so much the better. She was lost in her own thoughts - she had underestimated the Yellow Ranger, exactly as Astronema had warned her about, and now Psycho Pink was gone. Good riddance, really, but the thought of how close she'd been to absorbing the Yellow Ranger's power...

She was shaken out of her thoughts by Psycho Red's angry retort. "If we'd all have attacked together, we would've won for sure!"

"We'll win in time, Psycho Red." Astronema fixed him with a suddenly furious glare. Any retorts the other Psychos might have had were quickly silenced as she turned her glare onto them as well. "The next time one of you attacks without my permission I'll destroy you myself!" She stormed out, and Psycho Yellow found herself believing the threat as she exchanged looks with the other three.

* * *

They were finally sent back to the city the next day, to fight the Power Rangers - hopefully for the last time. A few blasts sent civilians running for their lives, screaming in terror as the plaza crumbled around them. The four living Psycho Rangers walked through the destruction, uncaring, as innocents scrambled to get out of their way in time.

"Psycho Rangers!" The shout came from the Blue Ranger, behind them. The Psychos span to face the five Rangers. "Looking for us?"

Psycho Blue sounded especially pleased. "Oh, especially you, Blue Ranger."

"Well, here I am!" Blue gave him a cocky wave. "Let's see what you've got." The Rangers started to circle them in the now-deserted plaza, and Blue spoke quietly to the other Rangers. "All right guys, remember our strategy."

Strategy? Before the Blue Ranger's comment could sink in, the five charged - and she found herself tackled by Red. Taken by surprise, she fell, seeing out of the corner of her eye Yellow some distance away, fighting Psycho Red. Anger rose to join hatred; who was this pathetic Ranger to keep her from the Yellow?

The Red Ranger wasted no time, kneeling to punch her hard before she could rise. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Psycho Red falling under a combined attack from the Yellow and Pink Rangers. Starting to recover from the surprise now, Psycho Yellow kicked Red away and rolled to her feet. "Get out of my way, Red Ranger!"

"Never!" Red tried to kick at her again, but she blocked with ease. Behind him, she could see Psycho Blue throwing aside Black and returning to fight his chosen Ranger. Not letting herself be distracted, she sent Red sprawling to the ground in pain with a single savage punch.

Taking advantage of the momentary pause, Psycho Yellow sent a blast into the Yellow Ranger from behind, giving Psycho Red a chance to shake off Pink and run to fight Red before he could recover.

Theoretically, Psycho Yellow was outnumbered, as the Pink Ranger stood beside Yellow, both of them ready to fight her together. In practice, the fight was still hilariously easy as she blocked the Rangers' blows. She could not quite help but toy with them again, holding back from attacking, pretending to be on the defensive as their overconfidence built.

They heard now-familiar roar of a motorcycle engine, and the Silver Ranger showed up to help as Psycho Yellow started to grow bored. "You Psycho Rangers are messing with my friends, then you're messing with me. Now who's first?"

Nobody paid any attention to him, and Psycho Yellow kicked Yellow in the stomach hard enough to make her double over in pain, easily shoving Pink aside when she tried to help.

Silver drew his weapon. "You guys are asking for it!"

Ignoring his worthless threats, she punched Yellow to the ground and stamped on her hard. Pink made a desperate attempt at grabbing her from behind; annoyed, Psycho Yellow shook her off and turned to punch her across the plaza - in Silver's direction, as it turned out. Well, at least it would give him something to focus on other than shouting.

Psycho Yellow was distracted from the beating she was delivering by the sight of the Blue Ranger falling, writhing in agony. "Finally," Psycho Blue raised his axe triumphantly. "You slipped through my fingers too many times, but this time I outsmarted you. Goodbye, Blue Ranger!" The axe swung down at the helpless Power Ranger - and was parried at the last instant by Silver. "You?!"

Temporarily more interested in their fight, Psycho Yellow distractedly blocked Yellow's pathetic attacks as the Silver Ranger swung his sword. "Well, who'd you expect?" he retorted confidently - only to fall moments later under several quick blows from Psycho Blue's axe.

Psycho Blue turned back to the badly injured Blue. "Don't think I've forgotten about you, Blue Ranger." He burst out laughing as Blue made a feeble attempt to rise, raising his axe for the final blow. "Say goodbye, Ranger!"

Yellow tried to punch, and Psycho Yellow grabbed her arms distractedly. She idly wondered how much force it would take to break a Power Ranger's bones as the axe fell - and the world around them faded into the Dark Fortress as they were teleported back by Astronema.

All stunned, the four Psychos gathered in a small circle. Psycho Blue in particular was practically radiating fury. "I could've destroyed the Blue Ranger, but she stopped me!"

Psycho Black nodded, angry and confused. "Why won't Astronema let us attack?"

"Does she think we're her toys?" Psycho Red turned to pace as the idea sank in.

Psycho Blue shoved him backwards at the idea. "I'm not a toy, I'm a Psycho Ranger!" he spat, visibly shaking with rage. "And I'm going to destroy the Blue Ranger with Astronema or without her!"

Psycho Yellow took a subtle half-step away from him, nodding in agreement. "I've said before, she has her own plans. And they don't include us!"

Psycho Red glanced across at the door to the main control room."Then maybe our plans shouldn't include her."

"And this time, we finish the job," Psycho Yellow replied with a nod. "And we don't let her stop us this time, not until they're all destroyed."

"I agree," Psycho Black said, his voice determined now. "We won't let them flee from our grasp again."

Psycho Red looked across again. "As soon as she stops watching us, we go back down. We find them, and we finish this."

* * *

 **Reviews make my day. If you're enjoying this, I'd really appreciate a review. I promise to reply to anyone who isn't a troll.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

When they returned to the city only an hour later, they were not waiting for long before the Blue Power Ranger showed up - alone, and sauntering into view in far too casual a manner. "Hey, there you are. I've been looking all over for you guys."

Psycho Blue laughed. "Well, that's perfect, because there's nothing we'd rather see right now than the Blue Ranger!"

Personally, Psycho Yellow had other ideas on that, but she kept her thoughts to herself as she looked for the other Rangers. What was going on here...?

"Then you're in luck," the Blue Ranger replied, still too casual.

"Why is that?" Psycho Black asked warily.

Another Blue Ranger ran up to stand beside the first. "Because there are two of us."

"What?!" Psycho Blue looked between the two Blue Rangers in complete confusion. "Two Blue Rangers?"

A third jumped from a nearby roof to land beside the first two. "Make that three!"

"Four!"

"Five!"

As the Blue Rangers posed in a row, the first to arrive spoke again, confidence practically radiating from him. "Five Blue Power Rangers and just one Blue Psycho Ranger. Now what are you gonna do?"

"Oh, that's easy," Psycho Blue replied with another laugh. "I'll just destroy you all!" With that he charged, attacking Blue Power Rangers apparently at random with wild swings of his axe.

The other three Psychos exchanged a look before Psycho Red spoke, shouting at the five Blue Power Rangers. "I know one of you has to be the Red Ranger. I'll find out myself!" Drawing his own weapon, he charged one at random.

"Not without me!" Psycho Black shouted after him, doing the same.

Psycho Yellow took a step towards the five blues - then stopped, and jumped to the top of the building. She watched the fight for a moment, then laughed quietly. The other Psychos were softening up the Rangers nicely, and afterwards... "When they're all done I'll find you, Yellow Ranger," she finished aloud. A better vantage point was needed - preferably one with less risk of being spotted and attacked herself - and she teleported away to watch things play out.

The Rangers, normally completely outclassed, were doing an excellent job of sowing chaos and taking advantage of it; in fact, three Psychos against five Power Rangers was almost a fair fight this time around. Psycho Yellow found herself glad not to be in this fight.

Psycho Red had one of the Blue Rangers, chosen at random, pinned against a crate. "You must be the Red Ranger!"

Perhaps because he was expecting Red's fighting style, the Ranger managed to kick him backwards and roll to her feet. "Wrong guess!"

Psycho Black kicked another Blue Ranger back against a wall. "Which one are you?"

"I'm the Blue Ranger!" she retorted with a laugh, flipping over him and out of his grasp.

The fight continued in complete chaos, although as the Psychos began to adjust the Blue Rangers found themselves at an increasing disadvantage. Psycho Blue stopped, staring between two Blue Rangers, clearly unable to figure out which one he should attack. "This is hopeless! The Blue Ranger could be any one of them."

In the confusion, one of the other three Blue Rangers managed to line up three shots in a row, and the three Psychos all hit the ground. Even from her safe vantage point, Psycho Yellow had lost all track of which Blue Ranger was which long ago.

Another one ran to the shooter's side as the Psychos stood up. "Good job!"

Without warning, and despite the clear blue skies, lightning struck from the sky, blasting at all five Blue Power Rangers. A figure walked through the smoke as the Psychos stared in confusion.

"Who's that...?" one of the Blue Rangers wondered aloud.

The new arrival spoke as the Power Rangers forced themselves to their feet. "I'm the Silver Psycho Ranger, and I'm here to destroy the Power Rangers once and for all."

"Dream on." Psycho Black was glaring at him. "The Rangers are ours!"

Psycho Silver pointed his weapon at the other three. "You dare to argue with me?" He sounded more incredulous than angry. "You have no idea who you're dealing with, do you? Now listen up, they are mine." With that, he charged the recovering Blue Rangers, cutting through their feeble resistance with ease, delivering each a single savage blow that sent them screaming to the ground.

Psycho Blue stared in shock. "What's he doing?!"

Psycho Red raised his sword as another Blue Ranger fell. "I won't let him have the Red Ranger. He's mine!"

The Rangers tried to rally, to put up any kind of resistance, as Psycho Black nodded his agreement. "And there is no way he's taking the Black Ranger from me."

"We've got to stop him!" Psycho Red shouted, and he charged in unison with Psycho Black - only to be thrown to the ground by a blast from Psycho Blue, still standing behind them. "I'll handle Psycho Silver," he said as they sprawled. "You two get out of here!"

Psycho Yellow almost attacked, to stop Psycho Silver destroying her Yellow Ranger, but stopped as a thought came up. There was no Psycho Silver, was there? Astronema had been clear there were five Psycho Rangers. She had kept secrets before, and _maybe_ she had created another Psycho Ranger without telling them, but she suspected the sixth was in fact nothing more than a trap. She settled back down in her hiding place to keep watching.

"You'll regret this," Psycho Black growled, picking himself up.

Psycho Red looked from Psycho Silver, to the five Blue Rangers, back to Psycho Blue, and visibly came to the same conclusion Psycho Yellow just had. "If that's your wish, good riddance," he said as he and Psycho Black teleported away.

The clueless Psycho Blue pointed at the disguised Silver Ranger. "And as for you..."

"Ah-ah-ah." Silver held up a mocking hand. "It's not nice to point."

"Oh, I'll show you nice!" Psycho Blue sent a blast at Silver, knocking him down, before advancing on the closest Blue Ranger, the only one currently standing. "I guess that leaves just you and me."

Psycho Yellow saw the end coming long before Psycho Blue, as one of the Blue Rangers - the real one, she suspected - picked himself up behind Psycho Blue. "Oh, really?" he retorted, doing an acrobatic flip over the Silver Ranger to attack Psycho Blue with his axe.

The five Blue Power Rangers and Silver stood in a line as Psycho Blue sprawled on the ground. "It can't be!" He shook his head in disbelief.

Without a word, four of the five Blue Rangers moved in unison, dispelling the hologram and revealing their true Ranger colours.

Psycho Blue picked himself up off the ground, clearly starting to realise how much trouble he was in as he looked at the still-disguised Silver. "You're no Psycho Ranger..."

The Silver Ranger removed his helmet with a triumphant grin. "You're right. I'm not a Psycho. And right now, when it's six against one, I'm glad I'm not standing where you are."

"Really? How about now?" Psycho Blue fired a shot that sent all six Power Rangers tumbling - but Blue and Silver managed to roll straight back to their feet.

"Let's Rocket!" With that shout, the fake Psycho Silver was gone, and the all-too-real Silver Ranger was in his place. "Let's do this."

The Rangers attacked in a dizzying flurry of blows, and seconds later, with a final strike each from Blue and Silver, Psycho Blue fell in a giant fireball.

Psycho Yellow teleported back to the Dark Fortress before the Satellasers fired; the Power Rangers' Megazords would surely win the fight, and she definitely had no desire to be discovered hiding by either them or by the giant form of Psycho Blue.

* * *

"Psycho Yellow!"

She turned to face the furious shout. "What is it, Psycho Red?"

Psycho Red shoved her violently. "Where were you?! You could have helped us, but instead you were nowhere to be found!"

She returned his shove with an angry punch that sent him reeling backwards. "Mind your tone!" she snapped. "I was watching, like anyone with any sense would have."

"How dare you?!" Psycho Black seemed as angry with her as Psycho Red, and was fast approaching.

"We were played for fools, don't you see it? They tricked us, and because of Psycho Blue's rashness there are only three of us left!"

That stopped them. Psycho Black lowered the fist he had raised. "What do you mean?"

She activated a monitor in time to see the Mega Voyager fire its lasers and Psycho Blue stumble backwards, clearly badly wounded. "They're more devious than we thought. We need a plan next time, or else, with only three of us..."

"Astronema won't stall any longer." Psycho Black did not sound overly convinced.

The Mega Voyager's missile finished the job, and Psycho Red reached to turn off the monitor. "Let's find out." He led the way to the main control room, interrupting a conversation between Astronema and Ecliptor without care. "Astronema, now only three of us are left!"

Psycho Yellow had had enough of Astronema's stalling, no matter her reasons. "If you have a plan, tell us. Otherwise..." She trailed off, leaving the threat hanging.

Astronema's eyes narrowed in visible anger, and she raised one gauntleted hand to point at the three remaining Psycho Rangers. Psycho Yellow was already cowering back before she spoke. "If you finish that sentence, I'll vaporise you." She waited, letting the three Psychos cower silently for a moment, before lowering her hand. "Now, it's time to destroy the Rangers. Listen carefully, or you'll suffer the same fate as Psychos Pink and Blue."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Unfortunately, the plan involved waiting for a while for the Rangers to let their guard down. That had definitely not been fun, but it was finally time to act. As they finished memorising the five Power Rangers' voice prints, Psycho Red nodded triumphantly. "They may disguise their colours, but not their voices."

"Right," Psycho Black agreed. "We'll find them, and destroy them once and for all."

Astronema was the one to reply, entering the room from behind them. "Find them, but don't, I repeat _don't_ destroy them. I want them brought to me."

Psycho Yellow stared at her incredulously. "But that may be more difficult with only three of us." She braced herself for the inevitable punishment for arguing with Astronema as the other Psychos nodded in agreement.

Astoundingly, the punishment never came. "True, Psycho Yellow, but you have the advantage. If they speak you'll hear them and descend on them like flies. They can't even morph without you knowing. They're helpless now." She paused, then said in a sharp voice, "Bring them back, no matter how much energy it takes."

"Right!" They teleported out quickly, before their mistress could change her mind about not punishing them.

* * *

Once in the city, they changed into their human forms - they wanted the Power Rangers taken unaware, not showing up all at once morphed - and began to scan the crowd for the familiar voices they were looking for.

It took only seconds before they heard it, the voice coming from nearby. "A tie? No, I can't get dad another tie."

It was Psycho Red who confirmed it first. "The Yellow Ranger."

Psycho Yellow nodded, and they ran to a balcony overlooking the square the voice had come from. It took only seconds to find where the conversation was coming from, as she homed in on a figure in a nearby phone booth. "For his birthday? Are you kidding?"

She pointed. "There!"

Psycho Red grabbed her arm as she turned to run down. "Wait! We must do this together. We don't know if she's alone."

She pulled her arm free, but she had to acknowledge he had a point. "Fine," she snapped. "Surround her then. Quickly."

She teleported down once the others were in place, sprinting the last few steps to the phone booth and kicking open the door. Before Yellow could recover, she pulled her out, raising a fist to strike - and stopped as she looked into the face of a total stranger.

Psycho Red grabbed the screaming woman, and looked at her closely. "It's not her."

Giving the innocent a hard shove out of the way, Psycho Yellow turned to him in anger. "It was you who identified the Yellow Ranger's voice."

He looked around the crowd. "She must have stepped away."

Psycho Black looked as well, seeing no sign of her. "She couldn't have gone far."

They searched the nearby area for several minutes, but heard no trace of either the Yellow Ranger, nor any of the others. "She's gone," Psycho Yellow said eventually, reluctantly acknowledging the fact.

Psycho Red nodded. "Let's split up. Search the city. The others might be down here."

It was only moments after, heading down a long flight of stairs, that Psycho Yellow heard a tiny sound. She headed towards where it had come from, listening carefully. It was something small - a cough, or a sneeze perhaps - and not enough to match for certain, but it sounded like it _could_ be the Pink Ranger. A minute later, she heard it again, from some distance away, and was starting to follow the little sound when from the same direction, she heard a shout: " _Look out!_ "

It was definitely the Pink Ranger's voice. Why she had shouted was a mystery, but one that hardly mattered, and she sprinted through the crowd to where she had heard the voice. The other Psychos joined her there, running from different directions, and as she listened she heard running footsteps nearby, and out-of-breath gasping that matched the voice print she was looking for. "That's her," she pointed. "Pink Ranger."

Psycho Red nodded. "Let's go."

They ran after the sound, getting ahead of the fleeing Ranger and blocking her path as she turned onto a deserted street. "Surprise," said Psycho Red as the Pink Ranger clearly realised who they were.

They advanced together. "Going someplace?" Psycho Yellow asked as Pink tried to catch her breath.

"Yeah," Psycho Black said, as they moved to surround her. "You look like you were in a hurry."

Psycho Red looked like he was enjoying himself. "Don't be in such a rush."

Of all the things that could have happened at that exact moment, a _clown_ dancing around the corner was not one that any of them had expected. "Balloons! Lollipops!" He came to a halt by the group, grinning madly. "Sweets for the sweets, anybody?"

Psycho Black gave the others a confused look. "Who is this clown?"

"We don't have time for his foolishness," Psycho Yellow added, hoping the clown would get the hint and _go away_.

Seemingly unbothered, the clown giggled and danced onwards, rounding the corner with a final cry of "Balloons! Candy!"

The mood turned serious again, and Psycho Red advanced on the frightened Pink Ranger. "Yes, we have what we want. Right, Pink Ranger?"

Before she could reply, the clown's voice came from around the corner. "What a piece of cake."

Another voice replied - the _Pink Ranger's voice_. "Those Psycho Rangers were easier to fool than we thought."

"That's her! The Pink Ranger!" Psycho Yellow pointed, her eyes wide as she realised their mistake. The woman they had been threatening was nothing more than a random innocent who had got in the way, and now the Pink Ranger was escaping.

They ran around the corner after the clown together, only to find the silly outfit abandoned on the floor. "Where'd they go?" Psycho Black asked as they looked for any sign.

The clown's voice came from some distance away. "Catch us if you can, Psycho Rangers."

Psycho Red definitely sounded annoyed now. "That way."

They ran after the voice in time to see the Silver Ranger, now morphed, riding away on his motorcycle. They chased after it, teleporting to get closer, as the motorcycle sped across the city. They rounded a corner, now back in their more powerful Psycho Ranger forms, to find the main five Rangers waiting for them, morphed.

"Pink Ranger!" Psycho Black called, his voice a challenge.

"Yeah, that's me," she replied confidently. "And I brought a few friends along."

Yellow was next to speak. "Rumour has it you've been looking for us?"

"Be careful what you wish for," Black added.

Red continued his sentence. "Because you know, you just might get it."

The last Ranger to speak, Blue finished with, "Only not quite how you pictured it."

The three Psychos exchanged a look. "Who do they think they are?" Psycho Black asked, mostly rhetorically.

The response came, shouted in unison. "Power Rangers, Power up!"

Silver jumped from a roof, landing beside the other Rangers. "No more clowning around. Power Silver!"

Psycho Black laughed at their antics. "It's so nice that you all gathered together here. It'll save us the trouble of hunting you down one by one."

The Power Rangers charged, and Psycho Yellow found herself fighting both Yellow - of course - and Silver. Even outnumbered two against one, the fight was pathetically easy, and she blocked all of their hits without difficulty. She tried to punch Yellow, but the Ranger cartwheeled out of the way. Psycho Yellow was wondering at the sudden showing off when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Psycho Red hit the ground under the combined attacks of Red and Blue. Yellow's attention was clearly drawn to the other fight, and Psycho Yellow faked a kick at her head; when Yellow tried to duck under it she kicked her hard in the chest, sending her sprawling.

Silver took advantage of Psycho Yellow's distraction, forcing her to retreat under a barrage of blows. Before she could recover, he delivered one more blow, which she barely managed to block, before kicking her feet out from under her. He struck as she fell, and it was Psycho Yellow's turn to go flying.

It took her several seconds to hit a building; she barely managed to kick off the building and throw a blast at the two Rangers as she rolled to her feet. The other four Rangers ran to the sides of Yellow and Silver. Surprised, Psycho Yellow looked around, seeing Psychos Red and Black beside her. Clearly, their fights had not exactly gone according to plan either.

As the others ran with her, back towards the Rangers, Psycho Yellow shouted out. "Face it Rangers, you can't beat us."

"You might as well give up," Psycho Red added his own taunt, drawing his weapon again.

Psycho Black was staring only at his counterpart. "You've lost."

"No way," retorted Black, sounding too confident. "Let's do it!"

Before the Psychos could react, or even stop running, three of the Rangers flipped over the other three, using their shoulders as springboards to jump straight at their foes. Psycho Yellow barely had time to see the Pink Ranger coming before she attacked, and even as she stumbled backwards in pain she saw the other three repeat the move, with Silver delivering the final hit on her.

She hit the ground hard, badly wounded, seeing the other two Psychos in a similar condition beside her. She felt herself changing, forced by her injuries back into her true monster form even as the others changed as well.

Psycho Black was the first to speak, staring down the Rangers as the three picked themselves up. "How do you like us now?"

"In our true forms?" Psycho Yellow asked, almost wishing she could see the Rangers' expressions. The six may have done well so far, but they were not going to succeed.

"Prepare to meet your doom." Psycho Red sounded _furious_.

The Red Ranger shook his head. "You don't scare us even a little bit," he replied with probably forced confidence.

"Yeah?" Psycho Yellow looked at the other two, who gave her a nod. Their plan would still work out, and the Rangers were none the wiser. "Well, try this."

The Psycho Rangers grew into their giant forms, and exactly as they had expected, the Mega Voyager arrived before long. As they surrounded it, Psycho Black gave the others a nod. "Come on, let's finish the job."

Apparently Red took that as a taunt, because over the Mega Voyager's external speakers he replied, "Bring it on, Psycho Rangers!"

Psycho Yellow grabbed one of the Mega Voyager's arms as beside her Psycho Red did the same with the other. "We've got it!" she cried as the Megazord started to struggle uselessly.

Psycho Red held on tightly. "Now, Psycho Black!"

"With pleasure," he replied. Psycho Yellow lost count at eight punches, watching the tiny Rangers scramble helplessly around in the cockpit. With the Mega Voyager damaged, Psycho Black grabbed its head and started pulling.

They were interrupted by the distant roar of engines growing rapidly closer, and Psycho Black looked around in confusion. "Huh? What's that?"

He barely had time to wonder as the Mega Winger flew down, opening fire into him. Psycho Yellow lost her grip on the Mega Voyager's arm as she ducked behind Psycho Black to avoid the hail of gunfire. Her sensitive hearing picked up a brief conversation between the Red and Silver Rangers in their cockpits as Psycho Black stumbled and fell to the ground, wounded, before the Mega Winger began its transformation into its Megazord mode.

As if that wasn't enough, a third landed moments later - the Delta Megazord, she vaguely remembered - and opened fire at Psycho Yellow even as she ducked to avoid the missiles the Mega Winger had shot at Psycho Red.

The Mega Voyager gave what the Rangers clearly thought was the last shot, firing its own missile at the downed Psycho Rangers. As the fireball started to clear, they could see the three Megazords' victory poses.

They exchanged a look, and nodded. It was time to get the Rangers and get out, before they got hurt any more.

Psycho Black was the first to act, grabbing the Mega Voyager from behind and dragging it backwards. Psycho Yellow pulled the Delta Megazord away as it tried to help, seeing Psycho Red doing the same to the Mega Voyager. She knew she didn't have to hold the struggling Megazord long - only for long enough for Psycho Black to teleport back to the Dark Fortress with the Mega Voyager and the five Rangers.

Psycho Black and the Mega Voyager teleported out moments later, but she could see the Rangers still there on the ground below. They must have evacuated. As the Delta Megazord pulled itself out of her grip she looked to Psycho Red, who gave her a nod.

It was time to go, prisoners or no prisoners. They were both injured, and any chance of taking the Rangers off-guard was long gone. They teleported together, back to the Dark Fortress.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Astronema had left them in the main control room to recover while she spoke to Dark Specter, and Ecliptor dealt with the captured Mega Voyager. For inexplicable reasons, it was being left, out in the open, on a nearby planet with a very easy trace back to planet Earth. Psycho Yellow sat and pondered Ecliptor's reasoning, nursing her wounds, as she watched the other two. Psycho Black was leaning against a wall, waiting, while Psycho Red was pacing impatiently. They all knew better than to dare to touch the Dark Fortress's controls, even in Astronema's absence.

Psycho Yellow's thoughts turned back to the events of that day. The Rangers' trickery had saved the Pink Ranger. She thought back - that silent woman, the clown, then hearing the Pink Ranger's voice and running after it... she cursed aloud as she put the pieces together. The other Rangers had put themselves in danger, risked destruction, to save their Pink. She wouldn't do the same for Psycho Pink, she knew. Hadn't done the same for Psycho Pink, when the Rangers had destroyed her. Why would the Power Rangers put themselves through so much trouble just to rescue one of their own?

A thought nagged in the back of her mind. A tiny thought, buried beneath layers of seething hatred: if she hadn't tried to seize power for herself, if she'd gone along with the plan she'd laid out with Psycho Pink... then they'd be sharing the power by now, and one of the Rangers would be destroyed. Instead, she'd grabbed Yellow - and it had all gone wrong.

Their boast, when they had first met the Power Rangers, had not been a lie. They _were_ faster, smarter, and stronger than their counterparts. So why, then, were there only three Psychos left alive? She thought for a minute, considering the Rangers' teamwork, but did not like the conclusions she reached. She stood, pacing herself, trying hard not to consider some very uncomfortable truths.

Luckily, she did not have long to think as Astronema and Ecliptor entered a few minutes later.

Psycho Black was the first to speak. "The Rangers will be looking for their Megazord."

"Of course they will," Astronema replied calmly. "Ecliptor, has the Mega Voyager been hidden?"

Ecliptor gave a small bow. "As you have requested, Astronema."

Psycho Yellow shook her head incredulously. "You call that hidden? It will be nearly impossible for them _not_ to find it."

Psycho Red's anger boiled over. "Then we must destroy them with their own Zord before they find it!"

Astronema's response was an angry shout. "Quiet!"

The Psychos froze, none of them willing to risk even moving for fear of their mistress's fury.

She continued, quieter but still in a threatening tone. "Now listen, Psychos. The Rangers will come for the Mega Voyager. And when they do, they'll get a little more than they bargained for. You want to finish off the Rangers?"

It was probably a rhetorical question, but Psycho Black replied anyway. "More than anything."

"Then listen closely."

* * *

The Psycho Rangers had been left on the planet to lie in wait, the Dark Fortress hidden out of scanning range nearby. Astronema had ordered them to simply wait for now, to hide themselves aboard the Mega Voyager and strike once the oblivious Rangers left with it.

Unfortunately, that meant even more waiting, and Psycho Black spoke more to break the silence than anything else. "The Rangers are undoubtedly searching for their precious Mega Voyager."

Psycho Red nodded. "It will lead them straight into our trap. Finally, I will have my chance to destroy the Red Ranger."

Psycho Yellow exchanged a look with Psycho Black. "But Astronema ordered us not to act without her command."

"Your obsession with the Red Ranger could get us all vaporised!" Psycho Black sounded as worried as she felt.

Psycho Red had his back turned to them, but was visibly shaking with fury. "I'm tired of being Astronema's puppet."

"It's not our choice," Psycho Black replied, trying to calm him down.

"I've had it," Psycho Red growled, his anger undiminished. "I will destroy the Red Ranger if it's the last thing I do!"

"You're out of control."

Psycho Yellow nodded her agreement, trying not to worry what might happen now. "Listen to yourself!"

"Silence!" Psycho Red started pacing. "Astronema has foiled my plans one too many times. If I wait for her, I may never get this opportunity again! Now it's _my_ turn to call the shots."

"I take it you have a plan?" she replied, not exactly willing to defy Astronema's orders but equally unwilling to face the full fury of Psycho Red for defying himeither.

"I do," he said, still pacing. "And _this_ time we finally destroy the Power Rangers. Without Astronema stopping us!"

Slightly reluctantly, they gathered close to listen.

* * *

As they had expected, the Silver Ranger's Mega Winger was the first to arrive - apparently all alone. "Perfect," Psycho Red muttered as it flew down.

Psycho Black laughed. "Those Rangers are so predictable."

Psycho Yellow nodded, biting back a laugh of her own at how simple-minded their opponents were. "They think they're fooling us? I'll show them."

"Time to put our plan into action," Psycho Black agreed.

As the Mega Winger landed, Psycho Red turned to her. "Okay Psycho Yellow, you know what to do."

She nodded. "Right," she said, running back towards the not-so-hidden Mega Voyager. She could only hope, as the other two grew into their giant monster forms, that Psycho Red would remember the plan too. They were risking enough by defying Astronema, but they could still win this and destroy the Rangers - if he could keep a lid on his impulses.

As she reached the downed ships, Psycho Yellow checked for the Rangers before focussing her powers on the Yellow Ranger's Mega V4. Her body dissolved into electricity, and she slipped into the Zord's wiring. She stayed hidden, waiting in the wiring as the Rangers arrived, congratulating themselves on fooling the Psychos, and the ships took off and combined.

Psycho Yellow waited a moment, before quietly spreading throughout the system, ready to strike at any moment. She could see the other Psychos waiting, in their giant forms, as the Mega Voyager advanced.

"We're back in business!" Red announced confidently.

Psycho Red's response was her cue to act. "That's what you think."

She struck, seizing control of system after system, the Mega Voyager kicking and swinging wildly as she worked out what control did what.

"Andros, what's wrong?" Silver asked from the Mega Winger.

"I don't know!" Red fought to move one of his joysticks, but it stayed frozen in place as Psycho Yellow's control of the Megazord grew firmer. "I can't move the controls!"

Yellow was staring at a monitor in horror. "This has gotta be a trick."

Black looked over at the monitor as Psycho Yellow realised it was the one that showed their systems being taken over by her. "Guys, check this out."

The Rangers scrambled to try to override her control, resetting things to no avail. Blue sighed in frustration. "It's too late, I can't override it!"

Psycho Yellow activated a speaker in the cockpit, and spoke in a calm voice. "I am now a virus that has infected your Megazord. I have complete control of the Mega Voyager."

"Psycho Yellow, I should have known!" Yellow was clearly not sure where to look.

Red shook his head. "Sounds good, but that's impossible. You should know only the Power Rangers can control the Mega Voyager."

"That's what you think," she replied, enjoying the sight of the Rangers' futile struggle more than she would ever admit. "I can control every function on this ship just by willing it to move."

"No, that can't be true," Red replied, his disbelief and horror clear.

She moved one of the joysticks, making the Mega Voyager raise its arms just to prove her point. As she turned her focus back to the Mega Winger and the newly-arrived Delta Megazord, turning the Mega Voyager's full destructive arsenal on its fellows, she was unable to help but laugh. Watching the Power Rangers scramble uselessly, as helpless as bugs caught in a web, Psycho Yellow had never had so much fun in her short life.

"Andros, stop!" Silver was practically pleading, as the Mega Winger took hit after hit.

Red was still fighting in vain with one of his joysticks. "I can't, I don't have control!"

Psycho Yellow continued to fight, pressing her advantage as she pushed the other Megazords back with kicks, punches, and laser blasts, pushing them back until she had them pinned against a cliff wall. She held them there for several seconds as Psycho Black conjured manacles to hold them in place for good - manacles similar to the ones she had previously conjured onto the Yellow Ranger when she had briefly captured her, but much larger.

Silver sounded close to all-out panic now. "Andros, the Mega Winger's caught in chains! I can't get loose!"

Red was already panicking as he fought with the useless controls. "Nothing works, I don't know what I can do!"

"There's nothing you can do," Psycho Yellow replied, freezing the Mega Voyager in place as Psycho Black and Psycho Red advanced on it.

"Here they come." The Pink Ranger looked like she wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. "Brace yourselves!"

Psycho Red leaned in close to the Mega Voyager, peering through the cockpit at the comparatively tiny Rangers inside. "Looks like you're in trouble, Rangers."

Red was the one to reply, voice full of fake bravado. "You're not gonna get away with this!"

"But I already have, and there's nothing any of you can do about it. Red Ranger, at last you're mine!" He raised a fist - and vanished without warning, teleported away.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Psycho Yellow turned the Mega Voyager to look around, but there was no sign of Psycho Red. She could see Psycho Black, looking as confused as she was, and quickly checked the other two Megazords were still helplessly bound and unable to take any advantage of the situation.

A minute passed, and she ignored the Rangers' speculation as she tried to figure out what to do. Where had he gone - had Astronema teleported him away? She thought for a moment; it had to be Astronema, or one of her flunkies, and the reason scarcely mattered. She just hoped Psycho Red would return to finish his plan.

Finally, Psycho Red reappeared, teleporting back in his normal Psycho Ranger form, sprawled face-first in the dirt.

Psycho Black leaned over, looking down at him in confusion. "What happened to you?"

As Psycho Red stood up, she could see at a glance that what little had remained of his sanity had clearly flown the coop in his absence. Whatever had happened, it meant bad news for the plan. "Everybody's interfering with my plans to destroy the Red Ranger!"

Psycho Black looked down at him, worried now. "You've got to get a hold of yourself."

Psycho Red shook his head furiously. "I'm not listening to anyone but myself any more! I'm through wasting time! Red Ranger!" he shouted, reaching out with his teleportation to the Mega Voyager, not to enter but to pull the Red Ranger out.

The other four Power Rangers watched helplessly from the Mega Voyager, unable to even leave with Psycho Yellow in control of the door locks, as Psycho Red attacked the Red Ranger. It was obvious that Red was improving with experience of fighting Psycho Red, but trapped alone and without backup he never stood a chance.

Psycho Red stood over him. "Get up, you sorry excuse for a Ranger!" he spat, hatred and insanity warring in his voice. "I thought you'd be a more worthy opponent!"

Red only managed to force himself to his knees. He somehow managed to sound confident as he struggled to stand. "I'm not finished yet."

"Oh, but you are." He threw another blast, and the Red Ranger's cry of pain was weaker than before. Psycho Red put his sword to the Ranger's throat. "At last, the end of the Red Ranger."

The point-blank shot from the Red Ranger's blaster caught the overconfident Psycho Red completely by surprise, and he was thrown backwards.

Whatever might have happened next was interrupted by the arrival of another Megazord - the so-far-forgotten Astro Megazord. "Help is on the way, Rangers!" a high-pitched robotic voice called out as the Astro Megazord landed.

Psycho Red turned his furious attention back to the Red Ranger. "You'll never escape!" he shouted, firing a blast that missed entirely as Red sprinted away, barely managing to reach the relative safety of the Astro Megazord as Psycho Red grew back into his giant form.

Still trapped in the Mega Voyager, the other four Rangers were shouting support as the Astro Megazord summoned its sword and charged it with energy. Psycho Yellow switched off the external speakers, effectively muting their support, and tried to sound confident despite how badly wrong things were going. "You don't have a chance, Rangers."

A lucky hit from the Astro Megazord sent Psycho Red falling backwards, and it turned its attention on the Mega Voyager. As it raised the charged sword to strike, Psycho Yellow scrambled to parry. What was the Red Ranger doing?

She did not have to wait long to find out, as the second strike hit - and the charge shot through the Mega Voyager's circuits, leaving her shaken and stunned. He must have tuned the frequency to hurt her. She tried to fight back, to push the Astro Megazord back. She knew it was less powerful than the Mega Voyager, but with her grip on the controls being shaken more and more with every strike that was growing harder and harder.

The only blessing was that, while the attacks were hurting her, they _were_ still damaging the Rangers' precious Megazord. In the cockpit, the four Rangers were hanging on desperately as they were shaken around by the fight. "What's he doing?" Black cried as another hit almost shook them out of their seats.

Another hit, another jarring shock through the Mega Voyager's wiring, and Psycho Yellow cried out in pain. She was vaguely aware of the speakers transmitting the cry as audio.

"He's trying to reverse the virus," Blue replied.

Another attack, another cry of pain, and from the Astro Megazord Red said, "I think it's working!"

She had long ago lost control of the mute button. "I hope so," Blue replied as the Mega Voyager shook violently under another blow. "We can't take much more of this!"

"Hold on, guys." The Astro Megazord paused as Red adjusted something within. "I'm going to use just a little more power."

Her control clumsy now, Psycho Yellow could not hope to block, and the charged-up attack left her screaming in pain as system after system fell from her control.

Salvation came from an unlikely source. "Oh no you don't!" Psycho Red shouted, and charged both Megazords, throwing them both backwards. Psycho Yellow weakly scrambled to try to regain the control she had lost, knowing Psycho Red had turned on her too.

Psycho Black was blocking Psycho Red's path as he tried to chase after the Mega Voyager. "Wait, what are you doing?! Psycho Yellow's about to take the Rangers down!"

"Get out of my way!" Psycho Red shouted. "No-one is going to destroy Red Ranger but me! Not Astronema, not you, and not Psycho Yellow. It's my destiny! Now step aside and let me through!"

Psycho Black shook his head, still trying to talk sense into Psycho Red. "But Astronema said she'll vaporise-"

Psycho Red punched him out of the way. "Take this Red Ranger!" he shouted, punching the Astro Megazord hard. As it reeled back, clearly damaged, he turned on the Mega Voyager. "And as for you, Psycho Yellow..." He attacked with a blast of energy, carefully aimed to force her out of the electrical systems. "I'll do this on my own!"

With what little control she had left, Psycho Yellow spoke through the external speakers. "Psycho Red, don't! You'll ruin everything!"

"I'll _destroy_ everything!"

One final attack pushed her out of the Mega Voyager completely, and back in her Psycho Ranger form she hit the ground hard. Writhing in pain, she saw the two Megazords stand together, the Rangers back in control, freeing the two that had been trapped. She forced herself to her feet as their plan fell in tatters. "See what you've done?" she shouted up at Psycho Red, not even sure if he would hear her.

He did hear her, and her accusation was met with a furious growl. "I've had enough of both of you!" He sent a bolt at Psycho Black, making him stumble backwards in pain, before turning on the still-tiny Psycho Yellow, sending a full-size blast down at her too.

In that one endless instant of agony from Psycho Red's attack, one thought struck clear as ice: _We're all going to be destroyed thanks to him_. It took every bit of strength Psycho Yellow had to resist her violent instincts. She wanted, more than anything, to grow into her monster form, make Psycho Red pay for attacking her, and destroy the Rangers herself. But where had that instinct gotten Psychos Pink and Blue?

The explosion hid her teleport - in too much pain to think and aim, she fled in a random direction, as far as she could. When she appeared, far in the distance, she could barely see the fight. She watched in despair, collapsed in the dirt, as the Rangers' weapons turned the Psychos' attack back against them. Even from this distance the explosion was blinding. She waited for them to come for her too, but as her vision started to clear she could see the Megazords striking a victory pose. The Rangers must have thought her destroyed in Psycho Red's attack. She stayed still, knowing she stood no chance against all six Rangers alone, and waited for them to leave before she dared move.

This was it, then. She was the last Psycho Ranger left. If she went after Yellow now, she'd be destroyed. If she returned to Astronema, she'd be vaporised for her failure. Neither option appealed. Right now everyone thought her gone like the others - and if she used any of her powers, if she drew any more of Dark Specter's energy, she'd be hunted down by one side or the other.

Psycho Yellow paced furiously. She wanted to destroy Yellow - forget the rest, Yellow would do - but she wanted to live to enjoy her success. There was only one option, and it wasn't one she liked, but anything else would see her ending up the same way the other Psychos had. All she could do was... wait. Wait for the Power Rangers to defeat Astronema, wait for Yellow to let her guard down, then - and only then - finally destroy her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The decision to wait had barely been made when a jolt of horror struck through her. She was on the wrong planet! The Power Rangers had only come here to retrieve their Mega Voyager; if she ever wanted to sneak up on the Yellow Ranger she would have to get to Earth somehow - and the only obvious way to do that was to hitch a lift on the Astro Megaship. She instinctively made to teleport, but stopped herself just in time - drawing any of Dark Specter's power now would mean her destruction for sure. She was effectively powerless, and trapped on the wrong planet.

A thought struck, and she ran back towards the battleground. She had to reach the other Psychos' bodies in time, before the Astro Megaship left orbit - and hope against hope there was enough residual power left for one teleport.

The Power Rangers' Galaxy Gliders were long since out of sight by the time she reached the remnants of the fight, but the Astro Megaship was still there. She tried not to look too closely at what was left of the other Psycho Rangers, tried not to think about how the much weaker Power Rangers had won, about the teamwork that had made victory impossible.

There was still some residual power left in the bodies of Black and Red, just a tiny amount - enough, she hoped, for one teleport. Shaking in a mixture of revulsion, eagerness and fear, she carefully drew the power she needed, and reached through the fabric of reality to teleport to the outside of the Astro Megaship.

Psycho Yellow's vision swam around her, a tidal wave of weakness crashing down on her as she appeared on the outside of the Megaship. She managed to grab onto something - a hatch of some sort - as the ship began to move, struggling against her instincts to draw the power from Dark Specter to replenish her strength.

She must have passed out, she realised groggily as she came back around. She was still holding onto the ship, and the dazed weakness she felt must mean she had managed not to draw on Dark Specter's power.

Her mind filled with thoughts of all the things she couldn't risk doing. She couldn't hide in the wiring for fear of their sentient computer detecting her, or of Dark Specter detecting her power use, she couldn't get inside the ship for the same reasons... all she could do, she realised unhappily, was to wait and hope the Rangers decided to go to Earth soon. She knew from the memories she had stolen from the Yellow Ranger that trying to enter the ship would be her last mistake, which left the significantly less comfortable option of riding on the outside for however long it took.

A few minutes' thought gave her an even unhappier revelation. Not only would she have to wait for them to go to the blasted planet, but she would have to wait for them to call upon the Astro Megazord in a battle. There was, unfortunately, no guarantee they would do that - she remembered from Astronema's records that they often used either the Delta Megazord or the Mega Voyager. To make matters even worse, her only plan had the unwanted end result of her hitching a ride down to the middle of a Megazord fight, risking either being seen or stepped on.

Several more minutes passed - or was it hours? It was hard to tell out here, in the silent empty cold. A plan finally struck her; maybe she could identify which part of this blasted ship would turn into something conveniently low down and out of sight, like the back of a knee, she might increase her chances of survival. Achieving this goal while remaining out of sight of any windows would not be easy, but in the end, it would be well worth it. One day, after the Power Rangers won their battle against Astronema, once they had let their guard down and forgotten all about her... _then_ she could finally take her revenge.

* * *

Working out the Astro Megaship's shape-changing geometry without being detected distracted her for a while, but once she was safely out of sight, holding onto what she was fairly certain was the back of the left knee, there was nothing left to do. Nothing, that is, except think.

At the end, their plan had failed because of Psycho Red's insanity, his refusal to work with them against the Power Rangers. If, instead of turning on her, he had helped her against the Astro Megaship's attacks, they might have won. While the Rangers were talking, planning, working together... they were arguing and fighting amongst themselves. The more she thought, the less she liked the conclusions she was reaching as she started to see the pattern. Besides forgetting about the Silver Ranger on more than one occasion, their lack of co-operation had cost them time and time again.

A tiny speck in the distance grew to become a visible star, which grew brighter and brightrer as the ship approached. Planets became visible - there was planet Earth! Psycho Yellow's excitement mounted as the Astro Megaship approached the blue-green ball. Down there lay her best chance for hunting down the Yellow Ranger, and for remaining unseen until she could do that. As she waited hopefully, the ship turned into orbit - and she realised that of course it would. Minutes passed, and the Rangers appeared on their Galaxy Gliders, heading down to the planet. Unable to teleport, she just had to wait and hope that supersized trouble would lead to them calling the Astro Megazord down.

Her thought turned to Psycho Pink, even though she tried hard not to let them. They had had a plan, and for a brief moment it had gone perfectly. She hated to admit fault, even to herself, but alone in the empty dark, she was forced to acknowledge that if she had stuck to their original plan, they could have drained the Pink Ranger's energy together, and used the boost to take out the others and seize power for themselves, together. Instead, her selfishness had led to betrayal, and while at the time she had not minded Psycho Pink's demise, it had cost her her best chance at victory. If all five of them had worked together at any point, they would have been truly unstoppable.

Her thoughts were thankfully broken as a green laser lanced down, its source out of sight but its destination clear. Astronema had fired the Satellasers! She waited for a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, daring to hope that the Power Rangers would decide to summon their Astro Megazord.

A slight vibration rumbled through the ship, and she tightened her grip as its engines fired, moving towards the upper atmosphere as the transformation began. Still feeling weak and dizzy, she held on as tightly as she could as the atmosphere's harsh winds tried to tear her away from the giant robot. As she held on for dear life, knowing she stood no chance of surviving a fall from this height, Psycho Yellow made a mental note to never, _ever_ hitch a lift on the outside of a Megazord again.

The Astro Megazord landed, and the hard impact was enough to shake her weakening grip completely loose. She fell into the mud, stunned and winded, as Rangers jumped into their cockpit only metres away from her. How they managed not to see her was a mystery; she supposed she could thank the giant monster for that.

One giant mechanical foot came crashing down near her head, and without time to think she grabbed hold. She had to get away from the fight before she was seen, but at least this way she could hopefully avoid being stepped on. The Megazord was striking, hitting the monster with its sword over and over again as it reeled backwards. To her relief, the monster recovered enough to blast the Megazord back, and as its shield fell, broken, to the ground she saw the distant speck of another Megazord approaching the fight. Given how the fight was going, she doubted it would last much longer, and she took her chance to run.

Safely crouched out of sight in an old length of pipe as the Delta Megazord landed and attacked, Psycho Yellow took in her surroundings. She was in some kind of scrapyard in the middle of the city, with some sort of small, reddish creature hiding behind a pile of building waste nearby. Given that it was making no move to fight, she could only assume the Power Rangers were trying to protect it, which would mean them returning for it after the giant monster was dealt with.

She heard the sound of the two Megazords transforming into one, and quickly crawled to the far end of the pipe, taking the Power Rangers' distraction as an opportunity to get further away from them. Getting out of the city would be a problem to deal with later, but for now at least the scrapyard was the perfect place to hide. A twisted hunk of wrecked metal that probably used to be a car provided the needed hiding place as the combined Astro-Delta Megazord destroyed the monster with a single blast.

The Power Rangers returned to the scrapyard as the Megazord left. Psycho Yellow ignored their conversation with the red thing, focussing on trying to stay as small and quiet as possible. Much as she loved the idea of tearing them all to pieces here and now, she would have to wait, or she would be the one torn apart. That lesson had been driven in time and time again, so she stayed hidden until she heard the hum of the Galaxy Gliders' engines and the conversation retreating.

* * *

With the Power Rangers gone, she emerged from her twisted hiding place, the world spinning around her as she stood too quickly. She grabbed what had once been the car's roof for support, realising grimly that her luck would run out before too long. She had to get out of the city, without using any of her powers or risking discovery in any way. She did not have nearly enough energy to change her form; she was weak enough as it was.

Perhaps she could force a civilian to take her to safety? She mused on the thought for a minute, but had to discard it too. If she let them live, she would risk word getting out about her survival, and if she destroyed them she would risk someone finding the body and discovering her that way. The thought led her to another idea; perhaps instead she could find a vehicle driving into the desert and hitch a lift without anyone knowing about it?

She stayed still for a moment, listening to the sounds of the city around her. She could not hear any voices or footprints nearby, and the conversations she could hear were little more than inane, useless babble. Carefully, she made her way toward the entrance to the scrapyard, trying to keep a track of the still-distant voices. A convenient stack of planks provided a useful means of avoiding the place's single security camera, and from there it was a nerve-wracking walk down the empty street. Perhaps waiting for nightfall might have been wiser, but she had had more than enough time alone to think, and moving felt better than staying still.

* * *

The answer proved to be simpler than expected, and hilariously simple, once she overheard a tour guide of some sort. The vehicle was heading to Stone Canyon, which the memories she had stolen from the Yellow Ranger told her was a nearby city. She was uncertain, but fairly sure that would involve a drive through the desert - which would give her a perfect opportunity to escape. Thankfully the bushes at this time of year were thick enough for her to hide within easy earshot of the coach; she could hear heavy things being loaded, and people entering the vehicle. A general milling about and flood of inane babble followed, until finally there was the slam of a compartment closing, and the last people filed onto the coach.

This would be the riskiest part; there was little way to be sure that nobody was watching, but it was a risk she had to take. Sooner or later, if she stayed in the city, somebody would find her, and this was probably her best chance. She waited for the engine to start, and a moment later she heard the crunch of tyres - and she ran out of cover.

The luggage compartment proved easy to force open, thankfully, and she leapt inside with the overly large pile of suitcases, pulling the hatch closed behind her. Plunged into darkness, she waited and listened - somebody was asking somebody else if they'd seen anything, but after a minute she heard no signs of anyone coming to search for her, and allowed herself to feel relief. She found a less uncomfortable position and sat back to listen to the conversations, her only judge of their location. The conversations unfortunately ranged from boring to inane, to completely stupid. An old woman was excited to see her grandson next month, another could not stop enthusing to her much-less-interested companion about her latest knitting project, a tiny child point-blank refused to stop whining about anything and everything, a pair of teenagers were excitedly talking about boys...

Finally, she heard something useful, from the father of the whining toddler. She heard the words _almost halfway there_ , and took that as her cue to escape the irksome flood of conversations before her building headache could get any worse. The hatched forced open with an unhappy mechanical groan, and outside she saw only desert. She jumped out, careful to let the hatch shut behind her, and lay low beside the road until the coach was long out of sight.

* * *

Unfortunately, the Yellow Ranger did not know much about the geography of the desert, so Psycho Yellow had to use her best guess as to where to go to get away from any nearby cities. Time stretched on, minutes into hours into days, her strength dwindling away as she stumbled through the desert. Every time she thought she had found somewhere suitably out of the way she was corrected by the discovery of a city, or a main road, or in one case a Megazord fight in the desert disconcertingly close by. More than once, she found herself wondering just how the weak humans ever survived in places like this, and how long she would have to wait out here.

She saw some kind of rubble in the desert ahead; from a distance, she could hear no sign of life, and whatever it had once been, the place looked completely abandoned now. As she walked towards the distant ruins, she heard the faint sound of Astronema's Velocifighters overhead, making for Angel Grove. She had heard the sound of those engines a fair amount recently, in every direction. Whatever was going on, she found herself quietly glad she was missing it.

Time passed, and with it came more engines roaring overhead, and the distant sound of explosions from Angel Grove, and other cities she was only vaguely aware of nearby. She could only guess that this was a massive invasion - which only increased her desire to hide and wait it out. As she got closer, the rubble revealed itself to be giant chunks of old stone, worn and dusty. She stepped through the wreckage - the building must have been huge, and she could see signs of what must have been a giant explosion. Buried in the desert sand, she found small shards of shattered glass, clear, red, blue, green, yellow, pink... She shrugged aside the mystery of the colours; the ruined building was probably a church. There was little sign of the rest of its town, but perhaps the buildings had been swallowed by the desert by now, with only the church remaining in any form. There had been enough alien invasions to this area that a destroyed town would hardly be out of place, after all.

More Velocifighters flew overhead, and she dived for cover underneath one of the larger chunks of rubble. Out of sight from anything in the sky above, she decided to wait where she was, sure she would not find a better, more remote hiding place in the desert.

It did not take long for the battle to resolve itself; the tiny spec of a distant Megazord flew down to Angel Grove, followed not long after by an explosion, and the barely-visible sight of further explosions on the horizon. It was unclear who had won; had the Power Rangers triumphed over Astronema's forces, or had they fallen? It was a strange feeling to hope for a Power Ranger victory, but her only chance at revenge lay with Astronema's defeat.

Time passed, and the patrols of Velocifighters continued overhead. She was just starting to get a horrible, sick feeling that the forces of evil might have taken the Yellow Ranger away from her when she felt something _very_ strange. It took her a moment to pin down where the strange, twisting sensation in her core was coming from, but then she realised: it was from her link to Dark Specter! The energy she had been struggling not to tap into was fluctuating - and then it vanished altogether.

Almost panicked, Psycho Yellow instinctively made to draw power, but there was nothing to draw power _from_. Somebody, presumably the Power Rangers, had managed to destroy Dark Specter. Did that mean the fight was over? Had the Power Rangers won? She listened, hearing another Velocifighter passing overhead, but no other sign of what had happened.

As if in answer to her questions, Ecliptor's face appeared in the sky above Angel Grove; from her vantage point Psycho Yellow could barely hear his words, thanks only to her enhanced hearing. "Dark Specter is no more," he announced, his voice calm and cold. "Astronema, Princess of Evil, is now your supreme leader. It is for her that we fight, and for her we will conquer the universe. Good will be destroyed, and evil will rule."

Ecliptor vanished, replaced by Astronema; even knowing it was just a hologram Psycho Yellow found herself shrinking back out of sight. The Princess of Evil did not speak, though, just staring down coldly for almost a minute before vanishing from sight.

Psycho Yellow had expected something to happen, and she suspected that, in Angel Grove, something was indeed happening. But out here in the desert ruins, nothing was happening at all. Nothing, in fact, continued to happen for a very long time as the sun crawled toward the horizon. It was a very strange feeling indeed to be bored during the potential end of the world.

* * *

Dusk turned into night, and still nothing happened. She noticed there were fewer Velocifighter patrols by the time the sun rose, which only increased her worry that Astronema might have destroyed the Yellow Ranger first. There was little she could do besides wait, worry, and muse at the continuing irony of hoping for the Power Rangers to win a fight.

The sun had not long risen when something finally happened. Lost in a dazed reverie, Psycho Yellow almost failed to notice the huge yellow wave sweeping across the desert towards her.

Weak as she was, there was no point in trying to outrun it, and with Dark Specter gone, she could not teleport even if she deemed that worth the risk. It passed over a Velocifighter flying overhead - and the machine crumpled into dust in an instant. Was this it, then? Was this the end? She barely had time to wonder before the wave hit her - and everything changed.

The silence rang in her mind like a bell, the empty space screaming where her thoughts had seconds before been filled with hatred. A wave of nausea passed over her, and she found herself coughing up dust as her mind reeled in confusion. Everything felt fuzzy and slow, and she slowly realised that things felt different not only in her own mind, but also outside as well. The desert sand felt sharp against her hands, the sun burning on her back, and as her vision slowly cleared she realised why. The wave had reduced her to a mere human - and not just changed her form, she realised as she tried to shift back to normal. Her senses were all reduced as well, her vision blurry and her hearing dull, and her body felt small and weak. Even crouched under the broken rubble, the harsh sun burned into her skin as her mind whirled in an agony of confusion.

* * *

What had happened - and why did everything feel so different now?


	9. Epilogue

**Epilogue: Aftermath**

She had no idea how long she had laid in the desert, hiding from the burning sun under the same piece of rubble, the only shelter she could find. Reduced to a mere human and already weakened from Dark Specter's demise, she could do little but wait for the end. After all, she had deliberately gone as far from any civilization as she could - there was no chance of making it anywhere else now.

She was broken from her dazed sleep by the one sound she had never expected to hear again: Voices. Very familiar voices, unfortunately.

"DECA picked up the life sign just around here somewhere," the Red Ranger was saying.

"I don't see anything," Pink replied, sounding confused. "Why would anyone be out here anyway?"

"I don't know, but it can't be good," Blue said. "Unless it's a former Power Ranger, it's someone who shouldn't even know where this is."

A pair of feet walked past her hiding spot and she froze, not even daring to breathe until the feet moved out of sight. Just as she was starting to relax, though, the feet returned, and crouched down - and she found herself staring into the shocked face of the Yellow Ranger.

Yellow's expression turned from surprise to fear, and she stumbled back out of sight. "Under there!" she shouted. "It's Psycho Yellow!"

She heard the sound of the others running over, then the sound of blasters being drawn. This was it, then - she supposed it was better than a slow end in the desert.

Salvation came from the least expected source. Of all the people to protect her, she was not expecting _Astronema_ to stand in the Rangers' way. "Wait! Remember who created her? You didn't destroy me on sight."

Red winced audibly, and sounded pained. "Karone..."

Before she could even start to work out why Red was calling Astronema Karone, or why Astronema was acting the way she was, she spoke again. "She survived the energy wave, didn't she? I would have destroyed you all without a care." Astronema's voice cracked as she spoke. "The only reason I didn't was... was because I hoped to destroy Dark Specter as well. I can't believe there's no chance for... for someone as bad as I was," Astronema finished quietly.

The six Rangers were silent for a long moment, and she started to form a theory. The endless anger had disappeared when the strange wave had hit her. Perhaps something similar had happened to Astronema? Eventually, Pink broke the silence, sounding reluctant. "She's right."

"No way." That was Blue's voice. "Karone, you had good inside you still, but you were mind-controlled. She was made to be evil."

"We can't trust her." That was Yellow's voice, and she found herself tensing up immediately. The anger and hatred was gone, but there was still... something, some visceral reaction to the Ranger she had been created to destroy.

"We don't have to trust her." Astronema - Karone? - was unflinching. "But if I deserve a chance, then so does she."

A pair of feet came into view after a long, tense moment, and Red crouched to look under the rubble at her. "Fine."

By this point she had given up trying to hide her confusion. "Why...?"

Red glanced behind him. "You heard my sister. Now get out of there."

Sister...? What _was_ he talking about? And why, after everything she had done, were the Power Rangers showing her mercy? She hesitated, but realised she really had no choice - after who knew how long alone in the desert she was hardly in any state to put up a fight even if she wanted to.

She crawled out, barely strong enough to move, to find Blue looking down at her with what she guessed was disgust on his face. "Well, at least she's not a threat. Even if she wanted to try something."

Red sighed as she collapsed weakly at his feet. "Let's just get back to the Astro Megaship. We can decide what to do with her later."

* * *

She must have passed out when they picked her up, for when she woke it was in chains. She was in what looked like some kind of store room, presumably on the Rangers' ship, and someone had left a tray of food and water within reach. Even despite her mistrust she found herself wolfing it down.

Her hearing was fuzzy and dull compared to what it had been, though still far better than any normal human would be. Given what she had been turned into, she supposed she should count herself lucky. The words were impossible to make out, but some distance away she could hear what sounded like a furious argument.

A few minutes passed before the argument abated, and a pair of footsteps made its way towards her. Blue opened the door, and she sighed in relief at not seeing Yellow. "Okay, start talking." He folded his arms. "Start with how you're even alive."

She hesitated, but saw little option other than to tell the truth. "I wasn't destroyed in Psycho Red's attack. I teleported away and hid."

"Why?"

She looked away, unable to meet his eyes. "I knew you would have destroyed me when you did the others."

Blue did not sound surprised. "So what were you doing in the old command centre?"

"Command centre...?" Suddenly, everything was starting to make sense. The coloured glass, the old rubble, the obvious signs of a fight... by some cruel twist of fate, had she really found herself hiding in an old Power Ranger command centre? She had written that off as mere coincidence without a second thought. "That place was...? I was just looking for somewhere to hide until I was forgotten about."

"Yeah, right." Blue clearly did not believe her. "You're not telling me nobody told you what Divatox did to the command centre."

"They didn't!" She shook her head as she realised that must be how they had known where to find her; of course the Power Rangers would keep an eye on that place. "Ask Astronema, she told us nothing except what we needed to know."

"She's Karone now," Blue corrected firmly. "Keep talking, Psycho Yellow."

Somehow, she suspected asking questions of her own would not be a good idea, so she filed away the mystery of Astronema's name change for later. "Like I said... I was looking for somewhere to hide. I knew if I was found by you, you'd destroy me, and if she found me, she'd vaporise me for my failure."

He sighed. "So what was your plan?"

She hesitated again, still trying to work out her own emotions now. Whatever that strange energy wave was, it had changed _everything_. "I was hoping to wait until you destroyed Astronema, then..." She could not bring herself to finish that sentence.

"Then sneak up on Ashley and destroy her, right?" Blue did not wait for a reply. "What's up with the human look? We know this disguise already."

She fiddled with one of the chains that bound her, more for something to focus on than anything else. "We drew our powers straight from Dark Specter. I lost mine when he was destroyed. When that... energy struck me, it turned me into this."

Blue sounded unconvinced. "And what do you want now?"

"I don't know." She did not even try to hide her confusion. "Everything's... I don't know, different. I'm not sure _what_ I want now."

Blue shook his head. "Not good enough."

"It's true! From the moment I was first created, there was this... anger at the Yellow Ranger. We all felt it. Now it's gone, and... I really don't know now."

Blue looked at her, his expression unreadable, for a long moment. Without a word, he turned and left the room, the door sliding closed behind him. The conversation outside was muffled, inaudible to her reduced hearing, but the angry tone of the voices did nothing to comfort her. She had expected them to come back into the room - but instead, the voices retreated away down the corridor, leaving her to worry.

Whatever was going to happen to her, she had a feeling things had barely begun.

* * *

 **This might be the end of _this_ story, but it's not the finale. Keep an eye on my channel as the Power Rangers accompany the space station Terra Venture on its voyage, as we continue the story in Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy... **


End file.
